


Painting The Town Red

by Perfect_Insanity



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gentle Negan (Walking Dead), Negan - Freeform, Other, Protective Negan (Walking Dead), the walking dead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 07:13:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15043526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perfect_Insanity/pseuds/Perfect_Insanity
Summary: In a fit of rage, Negan ends up murdering a complete stranger only to discover he left a young girl without a father.





	Painting The Town Red

**Author's Note:**

> Hey can I get a request where Negan is angry at his men so he takes a walk with Lucille and comes across a man in the woods he doesn't know, the man doesn't put down his gun so Negan kills him. He keeps walking until he spots the man's camp and in that camp a young girl and he realizes that he just killed her dad? Take it from there :)

No amount of time could help you adjust to this isolation. You and your father had been alone since the start and you didn’t know how to deal with the now empty streets. Streets that were once crowded and full of life. Streets that were now permanently stained with blood and slowly decaying. You weren’t sure how to say good-bye to this world.

But you and your father made do where you could. Some days, you were granted shelter, a nice house with a cozy warm bed to sleep in and something decent to eat. But most of the time, you were stuck in a tent barely large enough to fit the two of you with just a thin blanket for each of you. You tried not to complain though as you knew in your heart that your father was trying his very hardest and he needed your positivity more than ever. So you kept quiet a lot of the time, fighting back the hunger and the exhaustion.

Your father had let you sleep in that morning for the first time in a long time. It had been a rough night last night and there was no rush this morning. Then again, neither of you knew the time anymore. Your father’s watch had stopped months ago.

You woke up refreshed and crawled out of the tent with a smile on your face as your father was drinking some water. He turned when he heard the rustling and he grinned, “Morning.”

“Morning, Dad,” you said, “Anything to eat?”

“I was waiting for you to get up,” he explained, “So you can keep watch while I go hunting for something to eat.”

“Dad,” you chuckled, “You’ve never hunted in your life.”

Your father sharpened his knife and wiggled it around, “Well, there’s a first time for everything, Y/N. Now, you try to get a fire going and I’ll be back in a little while.”

“Right,” you said, still giggling as your father jumped to his feet and disappeared into the woods. You weren’t keeping your hopes up but it would still be nice if he could manage to find some food. You would take anything at this point as long as it would fill you up.

The day had started off horribly. It was like it was the entire compound’s goal to piss Negan off today. And it just kept getting worse and worse until Negan had to leave for a few hours just to prevent himself from beating someone with his beloved bat, Lucille.

Negan ventured into the woods, taking with him a gun, a knife, and of course Lucille. He didn’t expect to need the gun though but he never left things up to change. He always needed to be prepared, two steps ahead of the rest.

But, he loved using Lucille too much to bother with the gun. He found satisfaction in taking out the dead ones with one swing, their blood spattering all over the trees and onto the leaves. He did enjoy painting the town red.

Negan had been out for hours and he’d killed dozens of the dead ones, leaving Lucille dripping with dark red, coagulated blood and bits of rotten flesh dangling from the barbed wire wrapped around her smooth surface. But despite his enjoyment and pride looking at what he’d done to all those dead ones, it still hadn’t cooled him down. He’d been walking for hours but he didn’t feel any better. Hell, he never felt any better.

But Negan wouldn’t be alone in the woods for long. A twig snapping on the ground caught his attention quickly and he whipped his body around, a man standing just a few feet away from him with a gun pointed at him. He didn’t have many supplies on him, just his gun, his knife, and a dead rabbit, barely enough to feed himself.

The man couldn’t stop staring at Lucille, appalled by the blood soaked bat and barbed wire with bits of flesh attached to it. It made the gun shake in his hands as he spoke, “Please, I don’t want any trouble.”

“Then I’d suggest you put the gun down,” Negan retorted. He’d normally go through the whole routine of taking the man’s belongings but he didn’t have any. Did he really care enough to take one tiny rabbit? This was pathetic. But the man wouldn’t lower his gun and walk away and anger slowly started rising in Negan, “I don’t wanna have to make you put the gun down, man.”

“No way,” the man shot back, “Soon as I do, you’re gonna take my stuff and then use that bat on me. Looks like you’ve done plenty of damage with that thing already. Just…just put the bat down and we can both walk away without any trouble.”

“I ain’t puttin’ down Lucille!” Negan exclaimed, throwing his head back, “Are you joking, man?!”

The man fidgeted, squeezing his gun tighter. Before he could respond or walk away, Negan found himself swinging his bat, slamming against the man’s skull. He hadn’t even thought about it, just acted. The man was on his knees, blood pouring from the wound on his head as he tried speaking but his words just came out in awkward gurgles.

Negan hit him again, harder this time. The man was practically stuck to the dirt as he tried pointing to his left, his jaw dropped still trying to speak but now unable to even make any noises.

It made Negan pause for a moment. What was that man supposed to be pointing at? As he raised his bat once more, the man slowly lowered his head and went limp, his fingers twitching a few times before he was completely still. Negan still continued beating his corpse until his head was mush. He squatted down, picking up the gun and taking the knife from the dead man’s belt, “Hm, if only you could tell me what the fuck you were pointing at. Well, just gonna have to figure out for myself, won’t I?”

Leaving the man as an easy meal for the dead ones, Negan started walking in the direction the man had pointed to. It was probably a stupid move as the man could’ve easily been pointing towards a trap and Negan was walking right into it. Or, he could hit the jackpot and be left with supplies out the ass. 

Negan had his moments of optimism.

Your father had been gone for hours but you weren’t so worried about it at first. He wasn’t much of a hunter but he always tried so hard. He was probably putting all of his effort into catching them some dinner. And you were hoping he caught something. You were so hungry that it made sleeping so difficult. You’d caught up on some of that sleep last night but it would be even better if you could go into hibernation and just wake up when the world was restored.

As the day was coming to an end, you began to worry. Where was your father? Was he alright? You were tempted to go looking for him but you were afraid of leaving your camp as someone could easily tear through and steal what they wanted which really just consisted of a tent, some sleeping bags and a few knives. There might’ve been a bottle of aspirin in the bottom of your bag but you hadn’t checked in a while.

It was getting chilly so you started a fire, thinking that maybe your father had a lot to bring back and just the thought of food cooking over this fire made your mouth water. He must’ve caught something amazing if he was taking this long. Oh, you couldn’t wait to get some meat cooking.

Footsteps approached your camp and you looked up with a big grin. Your father was back! You stood up and pointed to the fire, “Dad! I’m glad you’re back! Look, I started a fire all by myself and-oh my god!”

Instead of your father, there was a strange man standing in her camp. He had a bat on his shoulder covered in blood and barbed wire. He was tall with his dark hair slicked back and a salt and pepper beard. He had on a leather jacket with a red scarf wrapped around his neck. He was so clean except for the blood spatter on his cheeks. How in the world was he so clean in a world like this one? 

That question wasn’t on your mind for long as you returned your attention to the bat on his shoulder. You held up your hands, slowly backing away, “Don’t hurt me. You can take whatever you want. I-I don’t have anything but my dad should be back any minute with some food.”

The man flinched, looking at her with wide eyes. He looked troubled and he was suddenly avoiding eye contact with you, “I haven’t seen anyone around here lookin’ for food. Listen, darlin’ I gotta tell ya, your camp is kinda pathetic.”

You frowned, “Must be nice to criticize my camp when you look like you’ve been living like a king.”

“I was makin’ a point,” the man retorted, “Want my help or not?”

“Not,” you grumbled, “I’m waiting for my dad to get back.”

The man sighed heavily, “Tell you what, you come wait for your dad with me and my people and we’ll send some guys out here later tonight to see if he showed up?”

“How am I supposed you trust you?” you asked, “Your bat is covered in blood!”

“It’s from the dead ones,” the man said, “Look, either come with me or you’ll just end up dead. I’ve got a hot meal with your name all over it, sweetheart.”

“You don’t even know my name.”

“Then tell me what it is.”

“Y/N, what’s yours?”

He started walking away from the camp and you hurried to follow him. Your father would kill you if he knew you wandered off with a stranger but this stranger was talking about a hot meal and you could never pass that up. He looked back at you with a smile, “Negan.”

The girl was rather sweet and Negan actually felt something he hadn’t felt since the beginning of all this. Guilt. He felt guilt. This girl was being so nice to him and when he brought her back to the sanctuary, she’d started eating like it was her last meal.

“You finish eating your dinner and then I’ll have someone take you to your room,” Negan explained, “Anything you want, just let anyone around here know that you’re with me and you’ll get it.”

“Wow,” you said, “That’s so cool. Will the room be big enough for me and my dad to share?”

“Of course,” Negan replied. The more she spoke, she guiltier Negan felt. He had to make his death look like he hadn’t beaten him with Lucille. Although, he was sure the girl would believe the dead ones got to her father, “I’m about to send one of my guys out there to find your dad.”

“Thank you, Negan,” you said, reaching out to touch his arm, “What you’re doing for me and my father has been so nice. I can’t thank you enough, Negan.”

Negan sighed, “No need to thank me, darlin’. It’s no big deal, really. We’ll get your dad back here and you guys can be a big happy family again. Now get on up to your room and get yourself cleaned up.”

You left happily with one of Negan’s guys and he turned his attention to Dwight, who was giving him a disapproving look, “What do you plan on telling her, Negan?”

“Nothing,” he snapped, “His body’s still out there. You’re gonna have to bring it back here, explain that you found him after being devoured by the dead ones. We’ll have a proper burial and she’ll never know what happened.”

“Got it,” Dwight said, “I’ll be back in a little while. You’re going through a lot of trouble for one girl, ya know. Have you gone soft?”

Negan couldn’t believe how much guilt had consumed him. He’d been so angry, he’d killed without even thinking about it. Every move he made was calculated and he’d taken his rage out on some poor guy just trying to feed his daughter. He owed this man’s daughter as much as he hated to admit that. Everyone usually owed him. Now, he owed someone else a debt. But how do you pay someone back for breaking their heart?


End file.
